Direct utilization of geothermal energy: a technical handbook
Geothermal Resources Council, Davis, CA (USA); Oregon Inst. of Tech., Klamath Falls (USA), (1979)Abstract
Man has u t i l i z e d the natural heat of the earth'for centuries. Historical records reveal I t s useas a direct source of heat for cooking, bathtng, space heating and mdicinai purposes In manyareas throughout the world. Early in the 19001s I n I t a l y , geothermal energy was used for thef i r s t time as a prime energy source for the generation o f e l e c t r l c t t y . These two uses of theresource are commonly referred to as "dlrect use** (non-electric) and t*eIectrIc." These termsusually appear In the Iiterature as Megawafts thermal (MWt) and Megawatts e l e c t r i c (We).Worldwide direct use of geothermal currently amounts to about 7000 MWt as compared to 1500 #Wenow being used in electrical power generation. By the year 2000, the estimated worldwlde u t i l i -zatlon w i l l be 190,000 MWt. The U.S. growth rate i s estlrnated to be 10-15$ per year or 32,000MWt by the year 2000.SInce the early 19701s, dwindllng domestic reserves of o i l and gas, continued price escalationof 011 on the world market and environmental concerns associated wlth coal and the developmentof nuclear energy have created a growing Interest in'the use of geothermal energy In the UnitedStates. ThIs r e l a t i v e l y clean and htghly versatile resource'is -now being used on a limitedbasis In a multitude of diverse appi Ications, e.g., space heating, vegetable dehydration, agrlculture,aquaculture, I fght manufacturing and other appi icatlons requiring a re1 fable and econmIcsource of heat.,Although used In direct applications for centuries, geothermal resources were not seriously considereda modern energy source In' the U.S. u n t l l the late 19601s. Because of the relatlveyouth of resource development, no single, comprehensive publication covering geothermaI1s numerousaspects was ever previously deveioped. Thls was not because the information did not exist,. - but because It occurred in a myriad of publications and papers not readily available to mostl i b r a r i e s or to Interested Individuals. Furthermore, a large amount of information exists i nunpublished reports, notes and In company f l l e s available only t o those with the contacts toobtain !t. Finally, much of the data needed for a comprehensive publication was developed onlyIn the last few years. ..It was to the development-of such a comprehensive dlrect-use publication that t h i s project wasdirected. Essentlaiiy, t h i s report is a single, technical volume that provides -a backgroundInto the nature and occurrence of the resource, I t s development, utilization, economics, financlngand regulatlon. In addltion, It Is documented wlth bfbllographles of both maJor referenceworks and unpubl ished reports.In order t o make maximum use of the informatton developed in the technical report, a nonLtechnicalversion has also been produced. The non-technical version w i l l be useful for both theJunior-high and high-schooI levels as well as for the general pubilc.In addition t o the above documents, a pamphlet on priclng parameters for the direct use of geothermalenergy was also included as one of the tasks of the project. The prlcing document hasnot been pub1 ished separately, but i s included as Appendix B of Chapter- 5 in thIs pub1 Icatfon.The project was j o i n t l y developed and managed by the Geothermai Resources Council and the OregonI n s t i t u t e of Technology and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. It was dlrected by asteerIng committee made up of the chairpersons responsible for each of the seven chapters, theprincfpal investigators and four other persons with varied responsiblltfes. The names andaddresses of the project participants are listed In t h i s section.
Description
Energy Citations Database (ECD) - - Document #6707209